Trump imposes sanctions for foreigners who meddle in elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday authorising sanctions against foreigners who meddle in U.S. elections, acting amid criticism that he has not taken election security seriously enough.

“We felt it was important to demonstrate the president has taken command of this issue, that it’s something he cares deeply about — that the integrity of our elections and our constitutional process are a high priority to him,” said national security adviser John Bolton.

The order calls for sanctioning any individual, company or country that interferes with campaign infrastructure or distributes disinformation and propaganda interfering with U.S. elections, Bolton told reporters.

It requires the national intelligence director to make regular assessments about foreign interference and asks the Homeland Security and Justice departments to submit reports on meddling in campaign-related infrastructure.

It also lays out how the Treasury and State departments will recommend what sanctions to impose.

With the midterm elections now two months away, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said the U.S. is not currently seeing the intensity of Russian intervention that was experienced in 2016, but he didn’t rule it out.

He said the U.S. is also worried about the cyber activities of China, North Korea, and Iran.

Coats said Trump’s order directs intelligence agencies to determine whether an individual, entity or country has interfered in a U.S. election and, if so, to turn the information over to the attorney general and Department of Homeland Security.

He said the order also directs intelligence officials to conduct an assessment after elections to inform the public about what might have occurred.

The order gives the executive branch the discretion to impose sanctions for election meddling, but the bill would spell out sanctions on key economic sectors of a country that interferes.

Those backing the legislation say that under the bill, a nation would know exactly what it would face if caught.